« Older Entries

Business Case vs. Business Plan Research

Introduction
is no better way to ensure success in business than having comprehensive business documents. Although the old school of thought can tell that success in business rests with the entrepreneur, modern research and studies have shown that a business requires both a business case and business plan for success. However, a business may not stand to gain much from the mission-critical documents without understanding them. Comprehensive understanding of the documents requires differentiating them and knowing their application areas.

Business plan
A business plan is among the most important business components. A business plan is an important roadmap through which success in an organization will be achieved. It helps to evaluate business goals, comprehensive reasons why the goals are achievable, and plan for achieving the goals. A business plan documents the future of a business and where the business is headed. A business plan is not complicated as many would have thought. It ranges from a few sentences to hundred pages. However, as much as it will be simple, the few-sentence business should have a detailed business strategy for the future. Therefore, there is no standard way of writing a business plan (DeBoer, 1998).

It is clear that the size of a business plan does not matter according to the above description. However, the business plan should have some formal sections such as title page. Such formal sections will enable understanding and acting on the business plan. Furthermore, a business plan should have three important sections of business concepts, marketplace, and financiers. Such is a successful business plan that is likely to get approved in case it is necessary. The above three sections are further divided into (Viana, 1990):

Executive summary
Organization and management
Funding request
Company Description
Product line
Financial projections
Market analysis
Market sales
A business plan may focus on changes in company’s perception and branding by the customer. If the existing business would like to carry out a major change or would like to have a new line of product or service, it requires a business plan for at least three years. The investors are likely to expect a return on their investment after that period. A business plan can either be external or internal (Viana, 1990).

Business Case
Besides the business plan, there is a business case that may look similar. However, a business case is a comprehensive persuasion prepared by a company’s department or another unit of the company to help in justification of a proposed project by anticipated income. Therefore, a business case helps to capture the reasons for initiating and funding a certain project within the company. It should be presented well and in written document. However, it may be presented verbally or in presentations. A business case works in such logic that an organization’s resource such as money should not be consumed without going to support a particular business need. A comprehensive business case should adequately capture both quantifiable and non-quantifiable features of a proposed project. A business case depends on the attitude and volume of the business (Carroll, 2010).

Project management methodologies require comprehensive and highly structured business cases. Therefore, business cases range from comprehensive and highly structured to informal and brief. Formal business cases include information that also serves as the project background, the anticipated business profits, other options, anticipated costs, gap analysis, and risks involved in the project. The business case project team should also consider doing nothing as an option, but it should include the risks and costs of doing nothing. The company then derives the justification of the project from the above information. It should be noted that business case is not prepared and developed by the project manager. The business case is prepared and developed by the stakeholders and the project sponsors. The business case is argued regarding cost-benefit analysis. The cost-benefit analysis includes both financial and non-financial costs and benefits. The cost-benefit analysis helps the business to have understanding and account of environmental benefits thereby understanding economic effects in details (Hart, 2000).

Similarities between Business Plan and Business Case
Both are mission-critical business tools with an aim of bringing success to the business. Their implementation requires approval by the company’s management if they are to proceed to the next stage. They are also comprehensive and have several divisions thereby making them formal. Unavailability of any of the components may make the management disapprove the documents by the lack of details. Although they may look different, they look to seize an opportunity in the market whose achievement may propel the business to the next business level thereby making the business gain competitive advantage (Boehler, 2009).

Both documents should be developed adaptable. It means that they should be tailored to both the size and risk of the business proposal. Additionally, they are business oriented in that they are focused on the impact and capabilities of the business as opposed to focusing on the technical side of the business (Boehler, 2009).

Differences between Business Plan and Business Case
There are as many differences as similarities between the two business documents. A business plan covers the whole business. Therefore, business plan impacts are felt in the whole business. On the other hand, a business case addresses a single line of product or department. Therefore, its impacts are felt along that product or in that department. A business case also gives room for choices in case the proposed choice is not considered. However, this is not true with a business plan(Walker, 2002).

The two documents are different in what they aim to achieve during their developments. A business helps to give explanations about the company by giving facts and figures where necessary. A business case is driven by the need to implement a project in the organization. Therefore, a business case helps the business in reaching certain goals and objectives by focusing on the current state of the company and how it can be improved. A business plan is about planning for the business now and in the future (Walker, 2002).

Conclusion
There are more about the business case and business plan than what the paper has discussed. However, it was worth to have knowledge of the two mission-critical business documents. There is the need for more research in the areas to unearth more information about them. Although the discussions in this paper may not be detailed, it can be used by organizations that would like to have an understanding how they can strategize for their businesses using the two documents.

Tags:

Disaster backup/disaster recovery

Database backup
In information technology, backup is the process of copying and archiving the computer data so that one can use it to restore the original after an event of data loss occurs (Mullins, 2012). There are two distinct purposes of backups. One is to recover the data after its loss maybe because of data deletion or corruption. The data loss may be a common experience of the computer users. The second purpose of the backup is to recover the data from the earlier time according to the user-defined data retention policy. There are two divisions of the backups that include the logical and the physical backups (Dafoulas & Ward 2011). The logical backups usually contain the logical data from the database with the Oracle export utility. It is stored in a binary file so as to help in later re-importing to a database using the corresponding Oracle import utility. On the other hand, the physical backup refers to the backup of the physical files that is used for storing and also recovering databases such as the control files and the data files. It is a copy of the files storing database information to another location whether it is on offline storage or a disk.

The database backup tends to form a duplicate of the data when the backup is complete. With a backup, it is easy for an individual to recreate the whole database from the backup in just one step that involves restoring the database. During restoring, it is a process that involves overwriting the existing database or it may create a database in case it does not exist (Dafoulas & Ward 2011). During backup, it is a process that tends to use a lot of storage space for every backup, and it also requires more time so as to completely backup all the operations.

With the Oracle backup, the types of backups include the logical backup, cold backup, and the hot backups. The hot backup is a backup of the data while it is running. Oracle tends to have RMAN which usually ensures the success in the hot backup. A cold backup is a backup that involves the offline physical backup, which is a process that happens when the database is not operating. It is a type of backup that accommodates all of the essential data files and other database components (Snedaker, 2014). On the other side, the logical backup is that backup of the tablespace, schemas, and whole database. Since an organization has a large amount of data, it is essential for the database administrators to use the automatic backup utilities that are available in a database such as ORACLE.

Any of the backup strategies used tends to start with the data repository. The backup data should be stored and organized to a degree. Other types of data backups include the full backup, differential backup, incremental backup, and mirror backup. The differential backup is the backup that includes all the files that changed since the last full backup. The incremental backup is the backup including files that changed in the last backup process (Snedaker, 2014). The full backup refers to the initial process of the backup that includes all the files and folders. Mirror backup is the backup of all files of the data that changed since the last full backup.

Disaster planning
Disaster planning is important as it helps in ensuring the continuation of the business processes if a disaster happens. Disaster is a term that is relative since disasters tend to occur in varying degrees. Disaster planning is essential as it offers an effective solution to use in recovering all the vital business processes (Whitman et al. 2013). The disaster recovery plan tends to offer the procedures for handling emergency situations. In disaster planning, the plan must offer information for the proactive handling of the crisis and must include detailed procedures for communication, executives, investor relations, human resources, and technology management. The plan must also document the procedures, responsibilities, and the checklist to use in managing and controlling the situation following the crisis.

Disaster planning tends to offer a state of readiness that allows prompt personnel response after a disaster occurs. It tends to provide a more efficient and effective recovery process. A disaster recovery plan must be able to accomplish several objectives. These objectives include managing the recovery operation in an effective and organized manner, recovering information and data imperative to the operation of critical applications (Mullins, 2012). It should also assess the damage, repair damage, and activate the impaired computer center. Every business tends to have the responsibility of responding to short or long term disruption of the services. Developing, documenting, implementing and testing the disaster recovery plan enable the business to restore the availability of the critical applications in an organized and timely manner after the occurrence of a disaster.

The advantages of disaster planning are that it results in improved technology. An organization requires improving IT systems so as to support the recovery objectives that you develop in disaster planning. The attention that one pays to recoverability leads to making the IT systems more consistent with each other. Disaster planning also results to improved business process. Since the business processes tend to undergo analysis and scrutiny, the administrators may not help but find areas that need improvement (Whitman et al. 2013). Disaster planning also benefits the organization through fewer disruptions. Because of improved technology, the IT systems are more stable than in the past. When one make changes to the system architecture so as to meet the recovery objectives, the events that used to cause outage do not do so anymore. Disaster planning also offers a competitive advantage because having good disaster recovery plan provides the organization with bragging rights that cab outshines the competitors. Disaster recovery plan tends to allow the organization to claim higher reliability and availability of services.

During disaster planning, it is significant that one should define the strategy to follow when employing the required softness to ensure the principles of detection, prevention, and response to the disaster. Such a strategy tends to define the activities that people will participate in when a disaster occurs, and it has a plan for explaining how to conduct the activities. It is essential for the organization to set the priorities of the processes and operations that they should perform. A disaster recovery plan is essential for the company as it contains the action that will help reduce the impact of the disaster and enable the organization to resumes its operation as fast as possible (Schin, 2014). It is an important aspect of the organization because it helps the organization save a lot of costs that it would incur if it never had a disaster recovery plan.

Importance of integrating backups and disaster planning
Database recovery is an essential aspect of disaster recovery. The purpose of the database backup is so as to safeguard the data in the case that a disruptive event occurs. The disaster planning aims at safeguarding the data and also the physical devices. It is important to integrate database backups and disaster planning as they work as complementary to each other when both of them are not properly implemented. Integrating database backup and disaster planning are important as backup database help in deciding the data to keep a backup for, and disaster planning helps in selecting the suitable backup plan for the physical storage of the data (Schin, 2014). Disaster planning is important as it helps to pinpoint the likely areas for problems. During planning, one need to assign tasks to different people so that everyone can know what is expected of them. Then again, backing up data and storing the copy off site may help to ensure that if a disaster strikes, one can move on without a lot of disruption.

It is important to execute database backup and disaster planning effectively. Failure of effectively executing them can result in a lot of loss to the organization. Without good backup and disaster planning, the organization can lose essential data and even customer data that can be of negative impact on the company (Mullins, 2012). When the two are not properly integrated, it can cause confusion to workers in the organization when an event of disaster happens as employees will not understand what to do in such a situation. Therefore, the damage can be much when the plan and backup are not properly executed.

Tags:

Compare and Contrast Systems Development Life Cycle (SDLC) Models

Introduction
SDLC is a conceptual model integrated into the system development process that consists of a series of phases to plan, analyze, design, implement and support an information system.

Seven-Step SDLC Model
Planning
Planning is the first phase of the seven-step SDLC model and is essential in determining the necessity of a proposed system so as to achieve efficiently and effectively the organization’s strategic goals. Planning phase entails of determining the project scope and the IT specialists and analysts define the location for the execution of the system functions. (Ahituv, Neumann & Zviran 2002)

System analysis
System analysis involves the IT specialists and analysts, and the end-users to work together to identify the need for change or the source of the problem. (Babers, 2015) The development team that got identified in the planning phase works together with the system users in modeling and the definition of the business process in detail.

Design
This phase involves the determination of the information requirements of the new system. (Shim, 2000) Simply the description of the necessary features, specifications, and operations of the new system get done in detail.

Development
The development phase involves the transformation of the design documents into the actual system. (Ruparelia 2010) System designers build and program information technologies and information system projects at this stage.

Testing
The purpose of integration and systems testing is to determine whether the new system meets the set of business objectives set out in the planning phase and to check for bugs, errors, and interoperability. The typical approach to testing of the design is to move from an individual element to the view of the entire system. (Norton, & McGraw-Hill, 2002)

Implementation
The implementation phase entails of the distribution of the new system to all the organization’s personnel and installation in the various departments. After installation in the departments, the workers get training on the operation of the new system. (Crnkovic, & Larsson, 2002) They also receive documentation such as system manuals and user guide to instruct them on the use of the system.

Operation and Maintenance

The final phase of the seven-step SDLC model involves the evaluation and maintenance of the new system. During the systems support and security phase, the IT staff is responsible for the maintenance, improvement, and protection of the new system. Maintenance involves correction of errors and adaptation to the changes of the environment. Improvement involves the alterations to provide new features and benefits while protection includes the safeguarding the new system from internal and external threats. (Shelly, & Rosenblatt, 2011)

Four-step SDLC Model
Definition Phase
The definition phase is the initial phase of the four-step model and consists of preliminary analysis, feasibility study, information analysis, and system design. The preliminary analysis gets used to determine the problem that requires a new system or system modification in an organization. The feasibility study also determines the necessity of the project and draws a preliminary plan on how it should proceed if justified. The information analysis consists of an analysis of the present system, the determination of the information requirements and the conceptual design of the proposed system. The system design entails of developing a program and procedure specifications that would get used by IT specialists and developers of the proposed system.

Construction Phase
The construction phase comprises of the programming, procedure and development. (Ruparelia, 2010) The programming activity involves the coding and testing of the computer programs on the computer system. The procedure and development include writing and the testing of procedures for various users and operators. The programming results in computer instructions whereas the procedure and development results in instructions meant to guide the people involved in the proposed system.

Implementation Phase
The third phase is the implementation phase that involves conversion in Information systems technologies. The implementation phase involves the training of the workers that will operate and use the new system, breaking the system in, and finally acceptance testing by the end-user. (Li, 1990)

Operation and Testing Phase

The last step of the four-step model comprises of operation and maintenance, post audit, and termination. The new system at this stage operates as a production facility, processing and producing information, and at the same time undergoing maintenance. Throughout the functioning of the system, periodic post audit review forms control points. The purpose of the reviews is to indicate when the operation cycle of the current system approaches the end, and a new cycle life get indicated. The current system gets terminated when its operation in the organization is not worthwhile. (Ahituv, Neumann & Zviran 2002)

Compare and Contrast the seven-step and four-step SDLC Models
The seven-step and four-step models are systematic processes used in system development by organizations and businesses. They also have closely related processes though with different activities at each phase. Both processes are used to produce new systems that assist in corporate transactions, the connection of businesses and office data, and also support users in the architecture of strategy. The life cycle of the two models starts at initiation and ends after termination. (Isaias & Issa 2015) However, there are several differences between the two SDLC models. The seven-step model is highly preferable and produces high-quality systems because it entails of more stages that allow the solving of complex problems, end-user involvement, and flexibility. Unlike the four-step SDLC model, the seven-step SDLC model consumes more time and resources in building, implementation, and construction of information systems. The suitability of the seven-step SDLC model is handling complex problems that require more concentration. The four-step SDLC model gets suited for the less complex issues that get needed in a short period.

Tags: